OVT's 30g Shallow Cube Riparium --> A Bunch of Fibs and Honest Lies

I have been looking for this tank for 6 months: ADA does not make it, GLA is out of stock and is not answering my emails, DB has a black rim on the bottom and black silicone. So, the Mr Aqua's MA-610 turned out to be my only viable choice.

The quality is pretty acceptable, especially for $160:

The above is the worst area I found so far: the back of the left panel is slightly mis-aligned and you can see the silicon work. Hm. I hope it holds water. The side panels's thickness appears to be 5mm, with the bottom significantly thicker.

This tank will replace my 10g that I picked up while looking for this tank.

The tank's location is a bit awkward: it will sit on a 10.5' long x 32" high x 24" wide divider between the Living and Dinning rooms. That divider already houses my 120-P and 60-P tanks:

View from the house entrance:

View from the Dinning room:

You can see the existing 10g on the very left on the picture above. (my wife is a Saint, ... or close).

I failed miserably at keeping the 10g lightly planted. Maybe I should not fight my nature and do something that I personally like, i.e. a lot and then some more plants. Reading some of the journals on TPT gave me an idea on how to maximize the number of plants I can possibly stuff into a tank: GO VERTICAL. Thus, the idea of a riparium took hold but more on that later.

Presently I am trying to lay-out the driftwood. The pictures below show the current state of affairs. I am still debating whether to use the middle driftwood branch or not - your opinions, please.

Layout # 1: (more driftwood)

Point of view:

Front:

Right corner:

Right side (will be hard to see as it will be ~12" from another tank):

Layout # 2: (the middle branch removed)

Point of view:

Front:

Right side:

Opinions?

My next debate is whether I want to also use rocks or just the driftwood. My current preference is driftwood only, but I think that I will end up adding some rocks...

First layout is the best. Stone could be too much with the driftwood being so interesting and dominant. It would probably look best with some DHG 'Belem' and some small, selectively placed colorful stems, like Rotala Sunset, or an Alternanthera "mini." Not sure that I would do a "path," as your illustration suggests you will be doing on the cardboard, but to each his own!

With the hardscape tentatively nailed down, filtration is next on my to do list.
While reading a bunch of journals, I came across a number of builds that did not use a 'real filter'. The idea really appeals to me on multiple levels but I am hesitant to go that direction without a deeper understanding of pros and cons. While I was running 'low tech' tanks for much longer then 'high tech tanks', I did not really understand the concepts behind either. Ignorance is bliss. I certainty feel that I have a lot more knowledge and understanding now then 10 years ago and that actually makes my life a lot harder: my knowledge is nowhere all encompassing and I still have too many principles to tie together.

As always, I have a number of conflictingRequirements:

Circulation:

Biological Filtration:

Gas Exchange:

Space and Esthetics:

Fish health:

The cost of the filtration hardware is of little concern for this tank as I already have a lot of idle equipment ready on hand.

---> If anything, the available space for a canister filter is at a premium. I could possible be able to fit the PX-360 between the side wall and the left side of the tank (got about ~6" there, but, with my luck, I will be 1/16" short).

Any other external filter would either have to be on the floor between the dividing wall and a chair. I can get away with it for a while, but, really?

The only other choice is to put it inside of the dividing wall. The thing is, with the two existing access doors, the space is packed. Really, really tightly. I could cut out more Sheetrock, hang 2 or 4 more doors and add more power outlets inside and that would be the right long-term solution. But then I'd rather avoid the hassle and the expense.

I say try filter-less since that seems to be what you really want. If you're worried about your fish you could start with the seeded PX-360 on there and then remove it when the tank is more established. Plenty of "el natural" tanks go sans filter and it's not like you don't plant heavily.

I say try filter-less since that seems to be what you really want. If you're worried about your fish you could start with the seeded PX-360 on there and then remove it when the tank is more established. Plenty of "el natural" tanks go sans filter and it's not like you don't plant heavily.
Do it, do it, do it!

Finally, a voice of reason (and some passion), I am sold. I will add a small powerhead or such to keep the water moving after PX-360 is gone.

TY: you just saved me 2 hours of expanding my "Filtration Musings" and days of going back and forth

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